Touch! Generations

Touch! Generations
North American and South American logo for the Nintendo DS
Produced byNintendo

Touch! Generations[a] is a brand created by Nintendo to denote games on the Nintendo DS and Wii that are intended to appeal to a broader audience (mainly adults and the elderly) than the traditional gamer. Nintendo originally introduced the brand in Japan in April 2005; it was subsequently introduced in North America and Europe in June 2006. Nintendo retired the brand with the launch of the Nintendo 3DS in 2011, six years after its introduction.[1] Despite this, some games that were introduced under the brand continue to receive follow-up entries on the contemporary and future Nintendo consoles.

The Touch! Generations brand was initially conceived in Japan as a response to the country's faster population aging rate compared to Western regions, with Nintendo seeking to attract non-traditional gamers to supplement their shrinking target market of hardcore gamers.[2]

Games

See also: List of Touch! Generations titles

The initial line-up of Touch! Generations games in Japan, launched between April and June 2005, included Electroplankton,[3] Nintendogs, Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!, and Big Brain Academy.[4][5]

Big Brain Academy and Magnetica were the first games in North America to have the designation for the Touch! Generations brand, with both releasing on June 5, 2006; they were followed up by Sudoku Gridmaster on June 26.[6] In addition, several previously released games were labeled under the Touch! Generations brand.[7] The games for Touch! Generations vary between different countries.[8]

In Japan, the brand had massive success, especially with the Brain Training games ranking high in game sales. A soundtrack also exists with music from some of the games. It was released on October 14, 2008 and could be obtained only from Club Nintendo for 400 coins.

In North America, Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! was released on April 16, 2006 in the United States and in Canada on April 17 of that year; however, the Touch! Generations brand was not launched until June 5, 2006.

The Touch! Generations brand was introduced in Europe on June 9, 2006 with the release of Brain Age, which was renamed Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain?.[9]

Reception

The Touch! Generations games have been received well. The Nintendogs series is one of the most popular DS software titles, selling 23.96 million units as of May 2009, followed by Brain Age at 19.01 million units[10][11] and Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! around nearly 15 million units as of September 2015.

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: タッチ!・ジェネレーションズ

References

  1. ^ "Iwata Asks: Nintendo 3DS". 20 January 2011. p. 10. Retrieved 20 January 2011. Iwata:But we decided that, whereas before we had established a Touch! Generations brand, created special corners in shops and used a special logo, the company has decided not to use this brand name for Nintendo 3DS
  2. ^ Kalning, Kristin (14 November 2006). "Games: They're not just for kids anymore". NBC News. Archived from the original on 4 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  3. ^ 鈴井, 匡伸氏 (7 July 2011). "【鈴井匡伸氏】4.全てを理解して作る". Famitsu (Interview) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 4 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  4. ^ 岩本, 有平 (26 December 2005). "「まさにミリオンセラー連発」--任天堂岩田社長が語るニンテンドーDS戦略". CNET Japan (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 4 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  5. ^ Iwata, Satoru (5 October 2005). The Current State of DS (Speech). Nintendo DS Conference Autumn 2005. Tokyo. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  6. ^ Harris, Craig (30 May 2006). "Nintendo Shuffles Touch Generations". IGN. Archived from the original on 4 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  7. ^ Jana, Reena (22 June 2006). "Nintendo's new brand targets aging gamers". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on 4 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023 – via NBC News.com.
  8. ^ Kietzmann, Ludwig (1 June 2006). "Nintendo losing their Touch (Generations)?". Engadget. Archived from the original on 4 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  9. ^ "Nintendo Pushes the Touch! Generations Brand in Europe" (Press release). Nintendo. 23 May 2006. Archived from the original on 4 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023 – via Nintendo World Report.
  10. ^ Watts, Steve (3 November 2009). "1UP Nintendogs News: Miyamoto Hints at a Cat-Based Game". UGO Entertainment. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  11. ^ 1UP Staff (9 May 2009). "Lifetime Wii, DS Software Sales Data Show Impressive Numbers". UGO Entertainment. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)